Brazil does not regulate fares on international flights.
Unless Congress decides to re-regulate fare pricing and encourages airlines to compete on service, I will go to the ends of the earth to avoid airline travel.
Under government policy to make passengers shoulder substantially more of the cost of the railway than taxpayers, regulated fares – off-peak intercity tickets and season tickets – are to rise by 1% above inflation.
This means that regulated fares will rise by 8% in January but, as this is an average rise, train companies can put some regulated fares up by as much as 5% above 8%.
The latest rise takes effect on Friday and will see regulated fares, which include season tickets, increasing by up to 2.5% and fares overall going up by an average of 2.2%.
This will apply across National Rail regulated fares, across the London Tube and on London Buses.
At the time Labour accused the government of ripping off passengers, saying regulated fares had risen 20% since 2010.
For ten years on the bounce, 2004 to 2013, the government put regulated fares up by more than inflation.
In September, the chancellor announced the "flex rule" that had allowed train companies to raise regulated fares by 2% above RPI would be scrapped.
In many Latin American cities, the operation of bus services has been carried out by private companies which apply partially regulated fares and routes, weak management strategies, and transportation planning, creating a poor quality of service.
Train companies can vary regulated fares by up to 5% above the average 4.1% rise, but fares that go up by more than the average must be balanced by others that rise by less or fall.
